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Today in Whostory: April 22
1963 – The Detours play the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play the Waterfront Club at the Cliff Hotel in Southhampton
1966 – The Who play the Odeon Cinema in Derby
1967 – The Who’s first single on Track records, Pictures of Lily” backed with “Doctor, Doctor” is released. It reaches #4 in the UK.
1967 – Melody Maker announces that The Who have been signed to support Herman’s Hermits on a U.S. tour that summer. In the meantime, The Who will go back in the studio on the 26th and 28th to record more tracks for their next album to be called “Who’s Lily?” One track they list as already recorded is Pete’s “Glittering Girl.” that will not be officially released until 1995.
1967 – New Musical Express carries a full page ad for “Pictures of Lily” as well as a review of the single titled “Intriguing Who: A Sure Hit!”
1969 – The Who play the Bolton Institute of Technology social at the Casino Club in Bolton, Lancashire
1972 – Melody Maker prints an interview with a surprisingly sober Keith. Chris Charlesworth conducts the interview. The interview is available in the book “The Who – Uncensored on The Record”
1972 – “Behind Blue Eyes” backed with “Going Mobile” enters the Dutch charts and peaks at #27
1973 – The programme Roadies, featuring The Who and their performance in Stockholm August 23rd, 1972, is shown on Swedish TV.
1974 – The filming of Tommy begins.. The first scenes are interiors at Harefield Grove, a country estate in Middlesex, and involve Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Robert Powell and Barry Winch. Pete watches on set for changes which would require re-writing of the score
1976 – Rolling Stone magazine carries an article titled “The Who on Tour: Leaps and Faints”
1977 – Keith checks back into Cedars-Sinai for further treatment for his alcoholism and drug abuse
1977 – The first single from the One of The Boys album, “Written on the Wind” backed with “Dear John,” is released in Europe. The delicate ballad, released just as punk rock becomes the rage in the U.K., stalls at #46 in the charts. The song will be dropped for the North American and Dutch release of the album.
1980 – The Who play the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah
1993 – The Who’s Tommy opens on Broadway at the St. James Theater. Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle attend along with a large number of celebrities. Frank Rich raves about it in the next day’s New York Times calling it “the authentic rock musical that has eluded Broadway for two generations.”
Today in Whostory: April 21
1963 – The Detours play Douglas House in Bayswater
1966 – The Who play the Benington Football Club Gala Ball at the Locarno Ballroom in Stevenage
1967 – The Who play the Brighton Dome in Brighton along with Cream and The Merseys. In Pete’s later recounting of this evening: “…I drove Eric Clapton and Gustav Metzger…down to Brighton Pavilion where we were playing with Cream; Gustav was doing the lightshow…though he was pleased to have been such a powerful influence he tried to explain that according to his thesis I faced a dilemma; I was supposed to boycott the new commercial pop form itself, attack the very process that allowed me such creative expression, not contribute to it..”
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1973 – Melody Maker, in an assessment of Britain’s major rock groups, gives The Who a “cautious” outlook saying they “said everything with their third single.”
1975 – With Roger busy on Lisztomania and Keith not yet in London, John borrows his solo band’s drummer Graham Deakin and he and Pete begin rehearsing for The Who’s next studio album.
1977 – A promotional film of the title song for Roger’s solo album One Of The Boys is shot this day and the next around West London, directed by Tony Klinger. Roger plays a Teddy Boy, a Hell’s Angel, a skinhead, and a punk rocker. It is shown that summer in the U.S. before certain shows of Star Wars.
1980 – Pete’s solo album, Empty Glass, is released in the U.S
1997 – Roger again plays Hugh Fitzcairn on Highlander: The Series in an episode called “The Stone Of Scone.”
1998 – Roger rehearses with the British Rock Symphony in New York City
2000 – Sonic News reports that Roger says The Who will attempt to record a live album of new material, perhaps during the upcoming tours. This does not occur.
2004 – The Japanese heavy metal band Outrage releases their CD Cause For Pause with a cover of “I Can See For Miles” sung phonetically in English.
2005 – John Entwistle’s family auction off the entire contents of his £3 million mansion. The auction nets £123,000 with a model of Henry VIII’s armour raising £900, a leather art sculpture of a male torso £2,200, a snakeskin tambourine £160 and a microphone presented to The Who for an awards poll in 1975 £480.
2011 – Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson announces his run for the U.S. Presidency. “I look at the rest of the field running for President, and that song by The Who comes to mind. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”
2015 – The Who play the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina
Today in Whostory: April 20
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill
1965 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1967 – The Who return to London
1969 – The Who appear on “This is…Tom Jones” in the U.K.
1973 – Roger Daltrey releases his first solo album, Daltrey, in the U.K. Chris Charlesworth gives the album, a collection of soft-rock tunes penned by Leo Sayer and Dave Courtney, a rave review in Melody Maker. Despite the success of the “Giving It All Away” single and Roger’s promotional efforts, the album does not reach the British charts.
1980 – The Who play the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California
1986 – While on vacation in Venice, Pete comes up with a track list for his next solo album, a light-hearted and colourful dance music album inspired by The Kinks’ song “Come Dancing”. The working title is Beguines, Tangos and Love. The album is to start with “All Shall Be Well” to be followed by Pete-penned songs “Foreign Language”, “Join My Gang”, “Ragtime in C”, “Still Life”, “Larry The Lonely Cowboy”, “Can You Really Dance”, “Love In Limbo Land”, “Love Is An Emergency”, “Your Kiss Is An Echo” and “The Roxy”. Possible covers to be included are “Save It For Later”, “I Put A Spell On You”, “Boogie-Stop Shuffle”, “That’s All Right, Mama”, “Barefootin'”, “Night Train”, “Cool Jerk”, “Walkin'” and “Don’t Let Them Drop That Bomb On Me”. Each song was to inspire a video dance sequence and the whole project a televised stage musical. Pete works on the album until mid-June at least, then drops it to begin writing The Iron Man musical.
1992 – Roger performs “I Want It All” with the surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury Memorial Concert at Wembley Stadium
2000 – imdb.com reports that executive producer Bill Gerber wants either Dougray Scott or Jared Leto to play Moon in the Keith Moon bio-pic, provisionally known as “Who’s Next”.
2001 – Roger was to have performed at the Steve Marriott Memorial Event at The Astoria in London. However, he cancels at the last minute due to a conflict with the filming of the TV series Witchblade. Kenney Jones does attend
2009 – Roger Daltrey appears on a Sky News spot “If I Were Chancellor” talking about help for the TCT within the NHS. The video shows him playing snooker with a teenage cancer victim.
2010 – The TV episode Keith Moon: Final 24 is released on DVD
2012 – Pete releases a Quadrophenia Demos 2 EP on vinyl in the U.S. and a double disc of Quadrophenia Demos in the U.K
Today in Whostory: April 19
1965 – The Who play the Botwell House in Hayes, Middlesex
1966 – The Who play the Town Hall in Walsall
1967 – The Who play Stadthalle in Bremen
1967 – The Who record their appearance on Beat Club lip-syncing to “Pictures Of Lily.” The show would be broadcast on May 1.
1969 – New Musical Express contains the article: “Moon: drummer extraordinaire”
1969 – Melody Maker has the article: “Why The Who aren’t pop anymore” with quotes from Pete and Keith. Pete declares, “I feel anti-pop now. I don’t call our music ‘pop’ any more. It would be nice to be in a pop industry where music with meaning sells, but that happens so rarely.”
1973 – Keith appears in a filmed segment on the BBC-2 TV programme Europa, discussing pinball with Derek Hart.
1974 – Keith leaves his residence at the Santa Monica beachhouse to return to London for the filming of Tommy
1974 – Ringo’s film Count Downe, now retitled Son Of Dracula and featuring a cameo by Keith, premiers in Atlanta
1977 – On or about this date, the day after Keith leaves Cedars-Sinai Hospital where he had been undergoing treatment for his alcoholism and drug abuse, he is kicked out of Ye Olde King’s Head pub in Santa Monica after “simulating the act of intercourse” with a girl on the barroom floor. Prior to this he had ripped the sink out of the wall in the men’s bathroom.
1980 – The Who play the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California
1980 – New Musical Express prints a new interview with Pete in which he discusses the possibility of a Lifehouse script to be written by Ray Bradbury.
1980 – Annie Liebovitz photographs Pete for Rolling Stone magazine.
2000 – Pete releases remastered versions of Scoop and Another Scoop with redone artwork on his website. There is also a limited edition art print (500 copies), signed by Pete.
2012 – Japanese record sellers list an upcoming release The Who Live At Budokan from the band’s 2008 appearance. The Who change their minds and the release is cancelled
2015 – The Who play the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida
2017 – Pete attends “Symfunny No.2” at The Royal Albert Hall
Today in Whostory: April 18
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford
1964 – The Who play the Florida Rooms in Brighton
1965 – The Who play Civic Hall in Crawley, Sussex
1969 – The Who appear on “This is Tom Jones” in the U.S.
1970 – The Who perform at University of Leicester with supporting act Viv Stanshall’s Big Grunt. The show is cut short after Hell’s Angels start attacking members of the audience. This lingering taste of Altamont ends when one of the Angels hits Pete in the head with a bottle of Newcastle Brown and he leaves the stage bleeding. Eight stitches put him right.
1970 – Pete is interviewed in New Musical Express
1975 – Recording for The Who’s next studio album was to have begun at Shepperton Sound Studios in London but they are held up as Keith has yet to arrive from Los Angeles and Roger is still working on the movie Lisztomania
1980 – The Who play the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California
1993 – Pete is reportedly photographed on the street near Broadway in New York City. The same day he appears in a photo with TV talk-show host Joan Rivers in newspapers across the U.S.
2002 – The CD Paul Chapman’s Ghost by Paul Chapman is released featuring a cover of “Baba O’Riley.”
2006 – Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoff release their CD Under the Covers, Vol. 1 featuring a cover of “The Kids Are Alright.”
Today in Whostory: April 17
1964 – The Who play the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush
1965 – The Who play the “Big Easter Rave” at The Florida Rooms in Brighton.
1965 – Record Mirror reports that the extra tracks The Who recorded earlier in the week are destined for an LP to be released only in the U.S. and France. The listed tracks are “Please Please Please”, “I Don’t Mind”, “Shout and Shimmy”, “Heatwave”, “Motorin'”, “I’m a Man”, and “Leaving Here”.
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” falls to 15 in the Pop Weekly “Top Thirty” chart. “The Who with one of the best records ever to be seen in the charts. Rather surprised it didn’t make the Top Five.”
1966 – The Who play the Regal Theatre in Edmonton
1967 – The Who play the Oberrheinhalle in Offenburg, Germany
1971 – Melody Maker runs the ninth and last Pete Townshend Page called “Things are different across the sea.” In it he compares U.S. audiences to British audiences and discusses the need of English bands to make it in America to be financially successful
1976 – The Patti Smith Group perform their punk version of “My Generation” on Saturday Night Live At the end the drummer tries to kick his kit over but it is nailed down and he falls off his drum stool.
1980 – Pete is in San Francisco at the offices of Rolling Stone magazine being interviewed by Greil Marcus. The interview would appear in the June 26, 1980 issue.
2001 – Pete sells eight of his personally crafted Gibson SG’s for £10,000 each on his website to benefit his Double O Charity. Each guitar is signed and comes with a CD of Pete performing a riff on that guitar
2005 – Pete suggests in a web diary that Roger will work with Pete’s brother Simon to complete songs Pete has recorded in demo form
2015 – The Who play the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida
Ah yes, Pete's infamous 1980 Rolling Stone interview. Pete does not make a good impression in that one, w.r.t. his remarks about Cincinnati.
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Today in Whostory: April 16
1964 – The Who play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford with drummer Dave Gold from Marshall’s Music Shop.
1965 – The Who play the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush
1966 – The Who play the Odeon Cinema in Watford
1966 – John is interviewed in the Melody Maker. The article is called “At last! Entwistle’s silence is broken” There is also a brief article about The Who’s current tour with The Spencer Davis Group. In addition, Substitute is #4 in the Pop 50
1967 – The Who play Oberschwabenhalle in Ravensburg
1967 – The Who play Donauhalle in Ulm
1969 – The Who are at Elstree Studio Centre in Borehamwood to record an appearance on “This Is…Tom Jones”. They mime to a newly recorded instrumental track of “Pinball Wizard” with live vocals by Roger. It is first broadcast in the U.S. on the 18th and in Britain on the 20th
1972 – Pete appears on “How Can You Be So Sure?” on BBC1 recorded the previous month
1976 – Record Mirror carries a brief article about Roger’s upcoming solo album “One of the Boys”. This issue also features a short review of Roger’s new single, “Written on the Wind”
1980 – The Who play the Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington
Correction, 1980, the correct name of the venue was the Seattle Center Coliseum.
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Today in Whostory: April 15
1963 – The Detours play the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play the Victoria Ballroom in Chesterfield, Derbyshire
1966 – The Who play the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, Surrey
1967 – The Who play Siegerlandhalle in Siegen
1967 – The Who play Rhein-Main Halle in Wiesbaden
1967 – Derek Johnson gets a sneak listen to The Who’s new single in New Musical Express: “It’s a job to get your teeth into the melody at the outset, but the frequently repeated chorus has a quick-to-register tune that you’ll all be whistling before long. It’s extremely well harmonised, employing falsettos and counterpoint with discretion and subtlety. Add to this The Who’s inevitable rumbling, reverberating beat and you’ve got a disc that’s intriguing to say the least. A certain hit!”
1967 – Billboard reports “Happy Jack” has hit its peak in New Zealand at #7
1968 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1972 – New Musical Express prints part three of a long interview with Pete conducted by Chris Van Ness in Denver the previous December.
1974 – Seven days of overdubbing and sound mixing for the Tommy soundtrack at Ramport and CTS begins. The Elton John Band’s recording of “Pinball Wizard” is completed
1979 – Roger and Kenney are interviewed on the BBC children’s programme Swap Shop
1980 – The Who play the first of two nights at the Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington
1997 – Advance copies of Flipp’s new CD Flipp are released containing the cover of “My Generation” that got the band its record deal. They are pulled and another song is substituted after Pete denies permission
2004 – The Who make #29 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The Immortals”, a list compiled by rockers including Pete. The Beatles head up the list. Eddie Vedder writes the tribute for The Who. He closes with “Presumptuously I speak for all Who fans when I say being a fan of the Who has incalculably enriched my life.”
2010 – Roger helps launch a job centre for people with learning disabilities in Stanmore, Middlesex. Also attending are publisher Richard Desmond, the Duchess of York, and Elizabeth Hurley. Read more about it here, or here, or here
2015 – The Who play the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
Today in Whostory: April 14
1963 – The Detours play in Bayswater at Douglas House
1965 – The Who play the Il Rondo Ballroom in Leicester
1966 – The Who play Gaumont Cinema in Southampton. They are the last act after Paul Dean & The Soul Savages, The Sound System, Hamilton, Jimmy Cliff, The Fruit Eating Bears, The Merseys and The Spencer Davis Group (who have the nation’s #1 single at the time). Compèring the shows is future Myra Breckinridge director Mike Sarne. The Who’s set at this time is “Barbara Ann,” “My Generation,” “I Can’t Explain,” “Substitute” and “Dancing In The Street.”
1967 – The Who play Halle Münsterland in Münster
1974 – Pete performs live for the first time as a solo act at The Roundhouse in London as part of a charity concert to raise funds to buy a coach for the Camden Square Community. At one point he gets into a shouting match with a heckler.
1974 – Keith and Ringo appear on The Flo And Eddie Show live on KROQ-FM in Pasadena. Keith plays Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and surf music records
1980 – The Who play the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1980 – Pete’s first totally solo album, Empty Glass, is released in the U.K. The U.S. release follows on the 21st. Reviews are raves with Sounds magazine giving the album its highest rating and Paul Morley in New Musical Express saying the album shows Pete is still an important musician. The album peaks at #11 in the U.K., the highest chart position for a Pete solo record in that country. In the U.S. it shoots all the way to #5.
1984 – Roger’s single “Walking in My Sleep” enters the Dutch charts where it will peak at #35
1985 – Pete holds the first concert organized by the Anti-Heroin campaign at St. James Church in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees perform and at the end Siouxsie presents Pete with a check for £5000. Afterwards they celebrate at the Embassy Club.
1997 – Fatboy Slim releases the single “Going Out Of My Head” which samples Yvonne Elliman’s cover of “I Can’t Explain.” On the first issues, Pete is not credited as co-author, a problem corrected after Pete threatens a lawsuit.
1997 – Pete is interviewed about the Quadrophenia tour in the German newspaper Der Spiegel.
2004 – A Japanese website called “Rock Odyssey” hints of Who shows in Japan, a country where The Who had never before toured
2004 – The Evening Standard prints a pic of Pete and his partner Rachel Fuller out and about after she lands a recording contract with Universal Records
2008 – The DVD TCT Concerts For Teenage Cancer Trust At The Royal Albert Hall is released
The minute that Pete's EMPTY GLASS was a commercial and critical success, the Who's days were numbered.
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Today in Whostory: April 13
1961 – The Hammersmith & Shepards Bush Gazette and Post carries an article titled “The Young Makers” featuring a photo of John
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford
1964 – The Who play the 100 Club in London opening for the Mike Cotton Sound. This would be Doug Sandom’s final appearance with The Who.
1964 – Pete writes a letter to the BBC apologizing for applying twice for a position on the BBC Light Programme, once as The Detours and once as The Who. He confirms that they are now called The Who.
1965 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1967 – The Who play Circus-Krone-Bau in Munich. Footage of John sitting on his amps while the Who perform is used in the concluding credits of The Kids Are Alright.
1967 – The Who get a beer buzz visiting the Löwenbräu Brewery in Munich. They are photographed raising a pint by Dezo Hoffman. Hoffman also shoots promotional photos of The Who “playing” in the woods while Stanley and Morphet film their antics.
1969 – The New York Times Magazine contains literary criticism of rock lyrics. One song discussed is “Substitute”.
1969 – The Who attend the Melody Maker Pollwinners concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London
“The Who, 1969, Melody Maker Awards, unknown hotel in London. Every year the Melody Maker readers would vote for their favourite artist, band, group, etc., and we would have a poll winners’ party in a swish hotel with Jimmy Savile or John Peel hosting and giving out the awards. This year The Who won as best band, and I took some snaps of this happy band celebrating. Derek Taylor from Apple Records was there and invited us to come over to Savile Row as he had “something wonderful” to share with us. This turned out to be us lounging in the Apple office drinking champagne, smoking the best while listening to the yet to be released “Abbey Road” album! © Barrie Wentzell”
1970 – The Who go into IBC Studios, London to record new studio versions of their stage act for later broadcast on the BBC. Paul Williams is the producer. The tracks are “Heaven and Hell”, “Substitute”, “Pinball Wizard,” “Shakin’ All Over/Spoonful,” “I’m Free” and “The Seeker”. It is the last time The Who record tracks specifically for airing on the BBC. Radio fans first hear them on BBC1’s Dave Lee Travis Show of the 19th. “Heaven and Hell” later serves as the basis for the track on the b-side of “Summertime Blues” and four of them are officially released in 2000 on BBC Sessions.
1971 – Les Grands Ballet Canadiens premiere a ballet version of Tommy at New York’s City Center. The performances take place while the 2 LP disc is played over loudspeakers. Clive Barnes in The New York Times finds it better than he expected but unremarkable.
1994 – An exhibit of photos taken by Pete Townshend’s old art school friend Tom Wright is held at The Center for American History at The University of Texas in Austin. Wright was The Who’s official photographer from mid-1967 through 1968. The exhibit continues through April 29th
2008 – The Who play the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gore, London
2018 – Roger appears on the Graham Norton Show
Today in Whostory: April 12
1964 – The Who play the White Hart Hotel in Acton.
1967 – The Who play Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Ludwigshafen. Violence erupts but not during the Who’s set. This time it’s during John’s Children’s performance as they provoke a riot and almost close the entire show down. John’s Children’s equipment is confiscated by German authorities and they are quickly deported. The Who, irritated by their antics and their act that left feathers all over the stage, are secretly grateful
1969 – Keith gets his chance to rate records without knowing who recorded them in the Melody Maker article: “Blind Date: Keith Moon”
1969 – “Pinball Wizard” enters the Dutch charts where it will ultimately peak at #12.
1970 – Keith drums as a special guest for a Screaming Lord Sutch gig at the Country Club in Hampstead. Keith is accompanied by the screaming Lord’s longtime drummer, Carlo Little, who was also the mentor who first schooled Keith on drums. Teacher and student pound along to “Jenny Jenny” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.” The event is recorded and released in 1972.
1975 – Pete, in an interview in Melody Maker, talks about his current feelings about the Tommy movie. He finds it “entertaining. I don’t like the first few minutes of it. I felt that was all a bit obligatory, that front part; it’s almost like padding. There’s a sense of relief for me when the plane crashes and she faints and all that, and suddenly we’re in the holiday camp.” He also has mixed feelings about the soundtrack album. “I’m not very happy with it. Everybody but me seems to like it…I rather like ‘Amazing Journey’, the sound of it.
1984 – Roger performs “Free Me” and “Parting Would Be Painless” at the Golden Rose Pop Festival in Montreux
1996 – The Japanese all-woman band Super Junky Monkey releases their CD Parasitic People with a strange “cover” version of “See Me Feel Me”.
2004 – A DVD of the British Rock Symphony, featuring Roger performing “Street Fightin’ Man,” “5:15,” See Me Feel Me,” “Let It Be” and “Pinball Wizard,” is released in the U.K
2008 – Roger attends the Teenage Concert Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall
2010 – The CBS-TV series Two and a Half Man airs an episode entitled “Keith Moon is Vomiting in His Grave”
2011 – The press reports that Roger Daltrey is fronting an online petition to maintain herbal remedies against an EU ban
2017 – The Who play the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, West Midlands
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What a band am a substitute
Today in Whostory: April 11
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford
1964 – The Who play the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush opening for Wee Willie Harris
1965 – The Who play the Majestic Ballroom in Luton
1967 – The Who play Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf. Violence breaks out before the show as Roger has to rescue Keith from some local toughs who want to slam his head through a car window. The toughs show up at the show that evening and Keith and Pete show them what for by chucking their instruments at them.
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1969 – Pete is interviewed at BBC Studio 2, Kensington House, Richmond Way, West London. He describes the plot of Tommy in a little over a minute. It is released 31 years later on the BBC Sessions bonus disc
1970 – Melody Maker reports that Live At Leeds will be released on May 1st
1970 – “The Seeker” backed with “Here for More” appears on the U.S. charts. It ultimately reaches #44 in Billboard and #30 in Cash Box. The new Who single receives a lukewarm review from John Mendelsohn in Rolling Stone.
1975 – Keith’s marriage to Kim Moon officially comes to an end at the London Divorce Court in The Strand. She is granted a decree nisi based on Keith’s unreasonable behavior. Keith offers no defense. Kim by this time is living with Faces pianist Ian McLagen. Keith’s payoff for the divorce: £40,000
1981 – John has a long interview in the New Musical Express. A famous quote from the interview: “I like playing heavy metal, I just can’t stand listening to it…the same way some people like the smell of their own farts but don’t like smelling anyone else’s.”
1987 – The Who rarities collection Two’s Missing is released. It is the first Who album since The Who Sings My Generation that fails to chart on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums
2000 – The ITV Classic Rock programme on Who’s Next, which originally aired on December 4, 1999, is released on DVD. The excellent documentary is made with the participation of Pete, Roger and John who discuss the album’s background and revisit the master tapes.
2006 – Pete premieres a new song “Uncertain Girl” on In The Attic. He says Zak just finished recording the drum track. The song does not make it onto Endless Wire.
2008 – Roger attend the Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall and performs The Seeker with The Fratellis
Today in Whostory: April 10
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill opening for the Undertakers
1965 – The Who play The Cavern, Notre Dame Hall in Leicester Square, London
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” is #14 in Pop Weekly’s “Top Thirty”. They call it “one of the better records which isn’t likely to break any big sales records.”
1966 – “Substitute” peaks at #2 on Radio London’s Fab 40
1967 – The Who play the Jaguar-Club in Herford, West Germany
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1969 – The Who perform “Pinball Wizard” on Top Of The Pops. Keith upsets the show’s director with his antics
1974 – Pete attends an Eric Clapton comeback party held at The China Garden Restaurant in Soho
1974 – Keith and Dougal move out of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel into a $5000 a month rented beachfront house on the Pacific Coast highway in Santa Monica, sharing it for a time with John Lennon and May Pang
1975 – In remarks to Rolling Stone magazine, Pete says, “The chasm between the original record album [of Tommy] and the film is a great one, but everything Ken Russell has done with the story and the music has my full blessing.” Rolling Stone also reports that, prior to beginning the film, Robert Stigwood had a survey performed revealing a 55% awareness of the rock opera in the general American populace
1976 – Record Mirror carries a story titled “Who Kick Off In May”
1980 – Pete lands in New York City to do promotion for his solo album Empty Glass
1984 – John’s estranged wife Alison wins libel damages from Channel Four Television and Goldcrest Films and TV. While appearing as a guest on the defendant’s show Gastank, John had called his wife a “dog.” She did not sue John who she is currently divorcing because he apologized and asked for the remark to be cut before broadcast.
1985 – Pete holds the first concert organized by the Anti-Heroin campaign at St. James Church in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees perform and at the end Siouxsie presents Pete with a check for £5000. Afterwards they celebrate at the Embassy Club
1995 – The Finnish artist Pate Mustajärvi releases his album Ikurin turbiini featuring a song called “Minä olen Pauli” which is actually “Boris The Spider”.
2000 – Pete, Roger and John hold a press conference at The Supper Club in New York City to announce their summer North American tour and the internet release of a live album from their 1999 shows
2000 – Roger appears on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. You can watch a clip on Comedy Centrals website here
2000 – Variety reports that the Keith Moon bio-pic, now provisionally known as “Who’s Next”, will be directed by Brad Siberling. The next day Nicholas Cage tells imdb.com that he is “insisting” that he be allowed to play Pete
2004 – Pete publicly apologizes to John Entwistle’s mother Queenie for some remarks he made about John in the previous month’s issue of Uncut magazine.
2008 – Roger attends the Teenage Cancer Trust Concert at The Royal Albert Hall. He’s interviewed by NME.com
2010 – Roger Daltrey performs at Jeremy Clarkson’s 50th birthday bash. Legendary producer Trevor Horn puts together a special band for the night and Squeeze also perform. The event is packed with celebs including model Jodie Kidd, socialite Jemima Khan, singer Bryan Ferry and comedians Jimmy Carr, Harry Enfield, Dom Joly and Paul Whitehouse
2017 – The Who play the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Today in Whostory: April 9
1964 – That morning The Who audition for Chris Parmeinter of Fontana Records in a basement café on the Edgware Road. Parmeinter is impressed by Pete, Roger and John, but does not care for drummer Doug Sandom. Doug announced his departure, but agreed to serve out the scheduled shows for the weekend.
From there, The Who go to Studio S2 at Broadcasting House to audition for an appearance on the BBC Light Programme.
1965 – The Who play Stamford Hall in Altrincham, Cheshire
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” reaches its New Musical Express chart peak at #10. It had been released almost three months before.
1966 – The Who play the Pavilion Gardens Ballroom in Buxton, Derbyshire
1966 – Hugh Vanes photographs Pete having an elegant breakfast while perusing the latest NME…then shoots John and Keith sharing fags and brekkies at the diner The Boiling Kettle
1966 – “Substitute” enters the Dutch charts while “My Generation” reaches its peak at #13 in the Detroit, Michigan area.
1967 – The Who play the Thalia-Teater in Wuppertal, West Germany
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1974 – Keith joins Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner, all playing drums during the recording of “Rock Around The Clock” and “Loop De Loop” for the John Lennon-produced Harry Nilsson album Pussycats. Keith also plays congas on “Mucho Mungo”/”Mt. Elga” and Chinese wood blocks on “All My Life.” Paul McCartney drops by for the session and he and Lennon are photographed together for the last time by Dougal.
1975 – A single is released from Keith Moon’s solo album. “Solid Gold” backed with the John Lennon-penned “Move Over Ms. L,” hits the racks in North America. It fails to chart.
1979 – The Who, now with John “Rabbit” Bundrick on keyboards and Kenney Jones on drums, begin rehearsing their stage act. Over the next two-and-a-half weeks they rehearse for a total of six days. The rehearsals are filmed by the BBC as part of a feature on the programme Nationwide and footage of The Who rehearsing “Who Are You” and “Sister Disco” are later released on the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B video.
Today in Whostory: April 8
1963 – The Detours play at the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play the Olympia Ballroom in Reading
1965 – The Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette carries a story titled “Love and marriage is their hit” about Colin Dawson, “founder of ‘The Who'”
1966 – The Who play the Queens Hall in Leeds, Yorkshire
1966 – The Who travel by van to Leeds for a meet ‘n’ greet at Vallances Records. Photographer Hugh Vanes accompanies the band and photographs Pete carrying a tyre for the van.
1967 – The Who play Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg, West Germany
1967 – Billboard carries the article: “Who in U.S. to show what, how they play.” It contains a photo of The Who with Decca Records executives
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1972 – New Musical Express prints part two of a long interview with Pete conducted by Chris Van Ness in Denver the previous December.
1974 – Ken Russell completes the shooting script for Tommy
2004 – Pete performs at the Ronnie Lane Tribute Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. He does “Evolution” solo, and then performs “A Heart to Hang Onto” with the Kenney Jones band
2012 – Who manager Bill Curbishley tells the Sunday Times that he had been approached by organizers of the 2012 London Olympics to see if The Who would play at the end of the Games. They also specifically asked if Keith Moon could appear with them. Curbishley’s response: “‘If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him.”
Today in Whostory: April 7
1963 – The Detours play in Bayswater at Douglas House
1965 – The Who play the Dacorum College of Further Education in Hemel, Hempstead, Hertfordshire
1966 – The Who tele-record an appearance miming “Substitute” for Top of the Pops
1967 – Mono mixes of “Pictures of Lily” and “Doctor, Doctor” were completed at Ryemuse Sound
1967 – Roger is interviewed for the BBCs German Service show “Hit ’67”
1967 – The Who, minus a tardy Keith, fly to Essen, Germany with their Track Records’ up-and-coming act John’s Children (featuring Marc Bolan on guitar) to serve as opening act. Also accompanying them are Pete’s friends Richard Stanley and Chris Morphet, hired to shoot promotional footage of the German tour.
1968 – The Who play the CNE Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are supported by The Troggs, MC5 and Raja
1975 – Pete demos “Girl in a Suitcase” which is rejected for the next Who album. The demo later surfaces on Pete’s 1987 LP Another Scoop. Other demos recorded around this time which don’t make it to the new Who album are “To Barney Kessell” and “Brrr”, later released on Pete’s 1985 album Scoop, “Ordinary Fella”, “Fight Until You’re Mine”, and an unnamed 12-bar boogie track.
1977 – Roger appears on Radio 1’s Rock On
1979 – John holds the first recording session for a new solo album that will emerge over two years later as Too Late The Hero
1981 – Kit Lambert dies at the age of 45, nine days short of reaching exactly the same age his father, composer Constant Lambert, reached before he died.
1984 – The Who fanzine The Relay publishes an interview with Roger about the end of The Who. Roger says Pete “made a very big mistake” breaking up The Who and adds “you can only take so much of being treated like a turd.” He says he hates Dave Marsh’s Who book Before I Get Old, describing it as “a great, fat book as big as a Bible mostly comprised of lies.” He also says Richard Barnes’ book The Who: Maximum R&B is “dreadful.” Dave Marsh is interviewed in the same issue and calls the It’s Hard song “I’ve Known No War” a “despicable piece of s***.”
1985 – You magazine in The Mail on Sunday reports that Pete is currently writing “a book about working in sheds.”
2002 – The Sunday Times Home section has Roger on the cover in front of his own home
2004 – Roger receives a lifetime achievement award for The Who at the Capitol Radio Awards in London
2004 – The group Recliner releases their CD Make a Friend featuring a cover of “The Kids Are Alright”
2005 – An exhibit called “Tommy: The Amazing Journey” opens at the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Pete supplies materials.
2008 – Pete attends the funeral for The Beatles’ former road manager and business advisor Neil Aspinall. At the service held at St Mary-the-Virgin Church in Twickenham, Pete performs two of Aspinall’s favorite songs, “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “My Sweet Lord.”
2009 – Best Buy releases the exclusive 2CD-1DVD set Rachel Fuller Presents In The Attic with Pete Townshend and Friends.
2009 – The Sun reports that Karen Astley has applied for divorce proceedings against Pete, ending their 40-year marriage.
2017 – The Who play The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Not to nitpick, but I guess yeah...."To Barney Kessell" was included on Pete's first SCOOP collection, which was released in 1983, not 1985.
i love Girl In A Suitcase. that could have been a good album cut for The Who.
I never saw Roger’s quote about Before I Get Old—it was never my favorite either!
Nancy - see 1984
Today in Whostory: April 6
1963 – The Detours play the CAV Sports Ground in Northolt.
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill
1965 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1967 – The Who are at Pye Studio No. 2 where The Who are filmed by ORTF French television
1967 – Richard Goldstein writes a lengthy article in The Village Voice on The Who’s March 28th Murray the K show. He concentrates on the group’s interaction with backstage groupies and the “shtick” of their instrument smashing. Of The Who’s sound he writes, “Theirs is a toy music, with massive drumming and a vocal that sounds as though somebody’s batteries need changing.”
1968 – The Who play the Fillmore East in New York, New York
1975 – John’s interview on Alison Steele’s U.S. Army Reserve radio show Nightbird & Company is aired
1996 – The John Entwistle Band wraps up the first Left For Dead Tour at the Birch Hill Concert Hall in Old Bridge, New Jersey
1999 – MCA Records release, for the U.S. market, the budget-priced best-of CD, The Best Of The Who: The Millennium Collection
Today in Whostory: April 5
1964 – The Who play the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play The Lakeside R&B Scene at the Old Welsh Harp in Hendon, Middlesex
1967 – The Who are in IBC studios in London recording “Pictures of Lily” and “Doctor, Doctor”.
1968 – The Who play the first of two nights at the Fillmore East in New York, New York. In 2018 these shows are released on the CD “The Who Live At the Fillmore East 1968”
1968 – The Who are photographed for Life magazine by Art Kane at his studio and the Carl Schurz Memorial in Morningside Park asleep under two sewn-together Union Jack flags prepared by Kane. They are so tired from Keith’s late-night antics that they actually go to sleep. The photo would be used in the June 1968 issue of Life in a feature titled “The New Rock”
1969 – Melody Maker groups The Who with Led Zeppelin and Free as one of “The heavy mob.” The article describes their sound under the new label “heavy” rock, a label that will eventually mutate to “heavy metal.”
1971 – Keith performs again as part of an All-Star Jam Session at the Bumpers Club in London.
1975 – Billboard magazine features a short article titled “Polydor Fete For ‘Tommy'” about the March 21st premiere of Tommy in Toronto. Also featured is an ad by MCA for the original Tommy release
1981 – Kit Lambert, The Who’s former manager and producer, is by this time living on charity that he spends mostly on heroin and alcohol. He shows up at his mother’s house bloody and broke saying he had been beaten by four men in the lavatory of a gay bar. His mother gets him to go to bed but later in the night he falls downstairs suffering a brain hemorrhage.
1986 – Roger appears on the British TV show The Little And Large Show lip-syncing to “The Pride You Hide” and appearing in some comedy sketches
2002 – Roger Daltrey attends Paul McCartney’s concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
2011 – UGC releases The Who ICON (Greatest Hits) as one and two CD sets
2017 – The Who play the Manchester Arena in Manchester
my birthday jam
👍👍
Today in Whostory: April 4
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford.
1964 – The Detours open for the Tony Meehan Combo at the California Ballroom in Dunstable
1965 – The Who play The Plaza Ballroom in Newbury, Berkshire
1966 – A judge grants another interim injunction brought by The Who’s former producer Shel Talmy preventing The Who from releasing any further recordings anywhere unless they are produced by Talmy and released by U.S. Decca/Brunswick. The Who’s management New Action Ltd. agrees to try to reach a settlement upon the first adjournment.
Shortly after the above event, Pete writes a new song on the back of a copy of his affidavit in the Talmy case. Its name: “I Can See For Miles”.
1968 – While visiting booker Frank Barselona’s house in New York, Keith goes crazy after Australia is mentioned. He goes back to the Gorham hotel, gets drunk, blows up his toilet with a cherry bomb and then climbs out on a ledge and begins throwing cherry bombs into the street at the gathering police. Incredibly, Barselona manages to keep Keith from going to jail, but The Who do get thrown out of the hotel and have to move to the Waldorf.
1976 – Billboard magazine carries a review of The Who’s March 21st concert at Anaheim Stadium
1986 – Roger and Bryan Adams sing “Happy Birthday” to the TV programme The Tube on its 100th episode anniversary
1995 – A press release announces that John will be the bass guitarist on that summer’s tour of Ringo Starr’s Third All-Starr Band
2004 – The SAS Band (Spike’s All Star SAS Band) featuring Chris Tompson, Tony Hadley, Paul Young, Leo Sayer, Arthur Brown, Fish, Mark Shaw, Tom Robinson, Richard O’Brien, Roy Wood and Roger Taylor release The SAS Band live DVD. It contains a cover of “My Generation” with vocals by Leo Sayer and lead guitar by Formula 1 driver Damon Hill.
2005 – Roger attends the Teenage Cancer Trust concert. Robert Plant headlines the show
2009 – The Who play the Perth Oval in Perth, Western Australia, Australia
2012 – The cybergroup Anonymous hacks Chinese Government websites. Their onscreen message is backed by a recording of “Baba O’Riley”.
I somehow missed this when it happened. Funky. 2012 – The cybergroup Anonymous hacks Chinese Government websites. Their onscreen message is backed by a recording of “Baba O’Riley”.
i can visualise Xi in his office back in 2012, fist angrily clenched in the air, "DALTREEYYYYYYYY"
Today in Whostory: April 3
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill
1965 – The Who play the London College of Printing in London
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” reaches its top position in the Billboard charts at #93.
1965 – The Who are featured in an article in Record Mirror: “The group that slaughters their amplifiers…”
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” reaches #18 in the Pop Weekly “Top 30”. In the “Top 20 News” they say “The Who make it again with their follow-up disc. Looks as if they are here to stay”
1967 – The Who fly to London
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1971 – Sounds magazine features The Who
1973 – The Daily Mirror carried an article entitled “Barn Stormer – With a New Pure Sound”
2000 – Roger is on the set of the TV movie Passions of Dracula: A True Story in Bucharest, Romania. He plays King Janos of Hungary. The movie is later retitled Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula.
2015 – The film Lambert and Stamp is released.
2017 – The Who play the Echo Arena in Liverpool, Merseyside